


COMPLIANCE

by PhenomenalBrat



Series: Dansen Dinner dates [6]
Category: Supergirl
Genre: Blood, Convenience Store, Conversations, Dinner, F/F, Flashbacks, Murder, Police, Racism, Shooting, Violence, Youth Center, mini marts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27318655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhenomenalBrat/pseuds/PhenomenalBrat
Summary: Kelly witnesses a tragic shooting of a young man, that has her late coming home for Dinner with Alex. The resulting conversation gives Alex alot to reflect and improve on and sends Kelly on a trip down memory lane, connecting present tragedies with past traumas in this next installment of Dansen Dinner dates.
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen
Series: Dansen Dinner dates [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1789765
Comments: 9
Kudos: 14





	COMPLIANCE

**Author's Note:**

> Authors notes: Mild Trigger warnings for descriptions of violence, blood, gunshots, police, race based police violence,Crying and potential triggering descriptions of death etc

**_4 hours ago_ **

_ "Don't shoot." Kelly yelled from where she was on the ground as the police held their guns aimed at the young man standing in front of the door to the convenience store. _

_ The young man turned looking at Kelly; his eyes were desperate as he dropped a large candy bar he held. _

_ "What is that? Weapon!" one of the officers yelled. The sound of gunfire rang out three times rapidly as an older gentleman came through the door of the convenience store. "He's not the robber!" The man yelled out as the boys' body fell to the ground near Kelly. She scrambled over to the young man as he lay there. _

_ She hardly registered the splatter of blood on her shirt as looked down at the young man as she realized how quickly he was fading. _

_ "Miss-Olsen- " He mumbled out her name in a struggle. "Help-" _

_ The older woman who had been standing near Kelly tore off her shall, handing it to Kelly, who was desperately trying to staunch all the bleeding. The Store clerks' voice yelled profanities at the officers as he seemed to have lost all fear in the wake of seeing Patrick's body bleeding on the ground. _

  
  


_ . . . . _

**Present**

Kelly's hands were still shaking as she struggled to put the key in the lock. Her ears were still ringing from the sound of that gunshot and the startling memory of the young Black man, a boy really hitting the ground dead; Patrick was his name or had been his name. Barely 16, and he was a volunteer at the youth Center L-corp had funded. He was gone now; and all over a chocolate bar; Madness...

She shook her head, clearing her mind or attempting to, as she stepped into the apartment. Her body still ached from kneeling on the ground. Her inability to staunch his wound before an ambulance arrived haunted her like a walking nightmare. She dropped her bag by the door and looked over towards the kitchen, spotting Alex who had two containers of Chinese take away she was opening along with two glasses of red wine. Oh right. Dinner. She'd forgotten.

"Hey. I grabbed something from I-sushi. Jonn and I worked so late that I couldn't start the stew and you weren't here, so-" Alex rambled for a moment as she walked across the room with the food. She paused as she took in the shakiness Kelly was unable to hide and the splatter of blood on the side of her Kelly's once pristine white blouse. The obvious staining of blood on Kellys hands was clearly noticeable to Alex despite Kelly having tried to clean them with some napkins in her car earlier.

"Alex…" Kelly mumbled.

Alex sat the food down and reached towards Kelly pulling her closer. "Oh my god. What happened? Do I need to-"

"It's not mine." Kelly whispered. "I'm sorry I'm so late." She told her, though it was hardly her fault. The echo of sirens and gunshots still rang in her ears and had been rather disorienting on the way home.

"Don't apologize. " Alex whispered as she held Kelly close, kissing her forehead and clearly feeling an intense mixture of fear and Confusion. "What happened?"

"They shot him." 

"Shot who? Kelly-"

"Patrick. They- I-I need to shower. I have to get-

Alex pulled back. " Of course. We can talk about everything after- if- if you-"

Kelly nodded before wordlessly heading towards the room. 

Kelly stripped off her blood stained shirt, and tossed it aside. She wasn't sure at that moment whether she wanted to burn it or wash it clean. She pulled off the black skirt she had been wearing and quietly moved over to the bathroom. 

It felt like hours but was probably only 20 or 30 minutes that she stood under the shower letting the steaming hot water hit her and praying it would cleanse her heart and soul; Praying that the water would carry the memory down the drain. It wasn't as if she had never seen someone be shot. She was a soldier. She'd heard and seen police do this kind of thing before. It wasn't even as if it was new. For a moment an almost ironic thought crossed her mind about her own romantic intangiblement with a beautiful woman who worked as something similar to an alien detainment cop, though that wasn't exactly the same. Point and shoot though; Soldier, cops, DEO...same.

She finally turned off the water letting the bathroom cool down. Stepping out of the shower, she wrapped herself in the blue fluffy towel that hung in the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom. She grabbed Alex' old t-shirt from National City University soccer team and a pair of lacy black underwear and slipped them on, forgoing a bra or any more extensive clothing, feeling wrung out.

As she walked back into the living room of the apartment, she found Alex sitting on the couch. There was wine and two boxes of food still in front of her. From what Kelly could tell, Alex had grabbed the fluffy red blanket from the closet.

"Hey. Are you-" Alex trailed off, probably realizing that asking if Kelly was okay would be ridiculous under these circumstances. She gestured for Kelly to sit down.

"Shower therapy." Kelly joked as she sat and pulled the blanket around herself. 

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Alex asked as she handed her a glass of soft red blend.

"I don't even know where to start." Kelly sighed, as she took a sip. She took another much larger sip and downed most of the glass.

"We will need more wine." Alex casually commented as she took Kelly's glass and refilled it. 

"I hate law enforcement. " Kelly whispered. 

Alex looked slightly offended and Kelly paused registering what she had said.

"Kelly…"

"He was just a kid. He was just buying...just buying his brother a candy bar." Kelly sighed, taking another large gulp of wine.

Alex reached forward Gently taking the glass from her hand and Kelly found herself agitated by the gesture though she knew Alex was just trying to help. 

"Kelly I know you're upset-"

"Upset doesn't even begin to cover it."

. . . .

**_4 hours ago_ **

_ "Miss Olsen." Patrick called for her as he came down the stairs behind her. His bluish grey volunteer button up shirt with the logo for the youth center, hung a little loose on his thin frame. His red rimmed glasses caught the fading light above the stairs for a moment creating a small light glare effect as Kelly turned, surprised and also unsurprised to see him still around. " I thought you left."  _

_ "I was just finishing cleaning up the computer lab. It'll be messy by tomorrow again." He joked as he headed towards the door following behind Kelly. _

_ "Repetitive labor builds character." Kelly told him, repeating something her aunt had often told her and James when they were growing up. _

_ As they got to the front door, Kelly tapped the 4367 code on the alarm keypad, activativing it and giving them 90 seconds to get out. Patrick followed her out and she locked the main door behind her. They could hear the robotic voice of the new L-corp alarm system scanning the building and counting down the last ten seconds before the alarm fully armed.  _

_ "Do you need a ride or-?" Kelly asked, noting the rain clouds and light drizzle already pouring down. _

_ "Oh uhm-" Patrick seemed surprised, almost confused by the question. "I mean, I don't- I'm sure you're busy. I can walk. My mom just couldn't- uhm she's working late." He deflected away from that subject. _

__

_ Kelly recalled meeting Patrick's mother a few times. Doris had been a beautiful and fuller figured woman. Her hair was often worn in a loose bun. Her eyes were a warm honey brown just a bit lighter than the warm dark brown shade of her skin. She was exhausted often from what Kelly could tell. Everytime Kelly had seen her she seemed in a rush from one job or another.  _

_ The few times they had spoken had been pleasant. Doris' voice was soft but firm and direct. She was a single mom to three; technically mother to two and taking care of her neighbors son on top of it after some rather unspeakable incident involving the boy's father and rumors of touching, that Kelly chose not to dwell on. Doris was always stretched razor thin, working as a nurse part time and a cook. If Kelly didn't understand herself how hard that woman was working, she might have been annoyed or even shocked that she forgot to pick up Patrick again. _

_ "It's 3 and a half miles to your house." Kelly commented. _

_ "You got me there." Patrick looked down at his feet, shuffling for a moment before looking back at her. "Thanks Miss Olsen." He told her as he followed her a few spaces down to where her car was.  _

_ . . . . _

**_Present_ **

"Sounds like he was a good kid." Alex commented quietly as she down her glass of wine. 

Kelly found herself unconsciously unpacking the different things that simple statement could mean.  _ Good kid. It should matter if he was a "good kid" or a "bad kid" cuz he was just that; a kid, just a teenager doing nothing more threatening than holding a candy bar.  _ She chased away a thought of past pains. Not wanting to dump multiple truths on Alex all at once."Would what they did have been better if he wasn't a good kid?" Kelly asked. Her tone is perhaps more bitting than she intended and she can see Alex' face shifted through a variety of emotions. 

"You know that's not what I meant." Alex sighs. " I just meant, I sorry for-"

"Sorry for police brutality?" Kelly comments. 

"I know your-I can only imagine what you're going through." Alex says. It's both sympathetic and a neutral statement. "I'm sorry those cops made a mista-"

"It wasn't a mistake though! It was a choice!" Kelly nearly yells and the volume of her voice even surprises her for a moment. Alex was looking at her with something boarding between hurt and sadness and it occurs to Kelly that she was lossing composure. She was teetering on yelling at Alex and that wasn't what they wanted.

"Kelly listen." Alex reached over, holding one of Kelly's hands and waiting until they were looking each other in the eye. "I've been-I've been there. I've been that scared cop for lack of a better word, making stupid violent mistakes. It's not right but-"

"They weren't staring down a 12 foot tall Alien with claws, who breathes fire. " Kelly cut off Alex' explanations, feeling frustration twisting in her stomach;her appetite for food was waning as she pulled back a little from Alex, grabbing her glass of wine off the table. She stopped, then, taking a moment to compose herself before untangling herself from the blanket and standing, pacing slowly, almost languidly in front of the couch, while sipping more wine. 

"Kelly…" 

"We just stopped to grab a candy bar for his little 'brother' before he got home." Kelly whispered. 

"How did he-"

"He was just minding his business." 

. . . .

**_A little under 4 hours ago_ **

_ "Miss Olsen?" Patrick asked as they rolled along in the car. They were about 10 blocks up the road from Patrick's home.  _

_ "You know you can just call me Kelly." _

_ Patrick laughed. " Did your parents let you call Adults by their first name when you were younger?" _

_ " Good point." Kelly noted. _

_ "Would it be okay if we stopped at 'Marvins'? I wanna grab a candy bar for Shaun. He got straight A,'s and it's the least I could grab him." _

_ "Oh sure. Where's-?" _

_ Patrick pointed out a small convenient store about one block up the road. It was nestled between a liquor store and what appeared to be an abandoned teriyaki restaurant. The name 'Marvin's' was lit up in bright red letters on top of the building. Kelly maneuvered the car into a parking space in front in the building, squeezing into a spot between an old brown Kia Rio that was parked close to the line, and a blue minivan with tinted windows. _

_ "Thank you. It's just gonna be a few minutes," Patrick assured her as he stepped out of the car.  _

_ Kelly looked down at the fuel gage notice it was a little low, creeping under 1/4th of a tank. Over in front of the liquor store next door were a few people lined up to use an ATM they had. Kelly got out of her car, locking the door and pressing a button to set the alarm as she walked over. _

. . . .

**Present**

"It's my fault." Kelly commented as she paused in her pacing. " I could of just taken him straight home."

"That's not your fault." Alex responded immediately. " Noone could have known. Kelly…"

"I should have." Kelly whispered. " I should have been faster. I was right there. I should have stopped Patrick from getting back out of the car." 

Alex reached out, grabbing Kellys hand to pull her back down to the couch. "Don't do that to yourself. " Alex advised. " You could spend eternity blaming yourself for things you can't control. "Alex paused then, " sometimes terrible things happen and we are all just pawns in the story of the tragedy. " Alex told her.

Kelly looked at Alex then. Her brain was still unpacking the days' events but she found herself latching onto one phrase Alex had said.

"We aren't just pawns though. Alex, life isn't a game of chess or checkers. " Kelly commented as she stood back up. "People make choices!"

Alex paused. She looked down at her hands, not wanting to look in Kelly's eyes it seemed. "You're not wrong. It's- I've done some dark things for the DEO. It never felt like a choice though. It felt like- like following horrifying orders. You're thinking gets warped in those kinds of jobs. You see threats where none exist then. You become the most violent version of yourself. I remember when we shot Supergirl out of the sky with Kryptonite darts the first time she was out flying around saving people. Point, shoot and you don't ask questions; And that was Kara we were firing at." 

"Alex...that's still a choice. And this wasn't some high commander yelling at them to shoot. Patrick wasn't flying or running or shooting. He was standing there holding a candy bar. Honestly the most dangerous thing he was doing was breathing while Black! All they had to do was take one nano second to engage their brain and value someone's life to realize there was no threat. They weren't scared. They're just racist!" Kelly paused then, realizing how loud she was being and playing back what she had just said. It was true though.

She really didn't mean to be this intense. Truth be told she almost didn't want to talk about it at all. There was a whole military side of her mind that perfectly understood reacting without thought in war type situations and following orders. That was the problem though. Average citizens walking down the street, shopping, sleeping, mowing lawns, eating ice cream, renting a house, or strolling through parks, weren't enemy combatants in some war. 

It occured to Kelly as she was pacing slowly, that they had hardly eaten and the food would probably do wonders to soak up some of the wine they were drinking right now, especially for the direction this particular conversation was going.

"I don't disagree." Alex told her. She had that soft penetrating look she got when she was looking straight to Kelly's soul it felt, to grasp the root of what was hurting her. " Alex held out her hand, not reaching out for Kelly. She just waited for Kelly to breathe through her anger to finish relaying the story. "I didn't mean to sound like I was defending the cops. That's not what I meant. I was just- I just understand doing bad things, regrettable things in service to a job. That's all."

"I do too." Kelly whispered, taking a breath and practically tossing herself back onto the couch. 

Alex reached over pulling the covers back over Kelly's shoulders. " So-"

. . . .

**_A Little under 4 hours ago_ **

_ Kelly stood patiently behind an older, shorter Black lady. The woman wore a headscarf and some glasses on a chain, her loose fitting red dress and shawl hardly seemed enough to shield her from the driveline rain and chilling wind that had picked up. In front of both of them was a young white man kicking the ATM and glaring at whatever was on the screen there. His blue goodies and dark wash jeans looked like they had seen better days. He kicked the ATM once again before taking back his card and walking off towards Marvins.  _

_ Kelly looked over to see Patrick exiting the story with a giant candy bar in his hand. The young man from the ATM and another young man who nodded at him,both entered the store, bumping into Patrick in a way that seemed completely purposeful on their way in. Kelly beeped the car lock twice allowing Patrick to get in, then she simply turned back to the ATM line. _

_ The older woman in front of her was fidgeting as she stood at the ATM pulling out some money. She had been at the ATM for probably 10 or 15 minutes and it looked like she was mumbling and counting in her head. Kelly was trying not to be nosey about it but it was clear something was wrong. She was shivering. It was probably none of her business but being the empathetic soul she was, Kelly couldn't help the mild nosey streak that ran through her.  _

_ "Maam. Is everything okay?" She asked. _

_ The woman seemed startled, confused by the question even as if she simply hadn't been asked such a thing in a long time. _

_ "Oh...I'm just trying to make some ends meet baby." _

_ Kelly nodded at that, understanding completely what she meant. She stepped a little closer. " Is there anything I can do?" _

_ "Oh no sweetie, don't put yourself out-" _

_ At that moment 3 things happen at once. There was a smashing sound, like glass breaking. The noise came from inside over by Marvin's. Kelly heard the sound of a gunshot ricochet off something and Suddenly she registered the sound of police sirens drawing closer. She looked at her car to see her car door slightly ajar and Patrick gone from the car.  _

_ "Excuse me." she rambled out as she ran back over towards Marvins. Looking through the glass door she saw the clerk, an older black gentleman with a scar on the side of his face, at the counter, standing with his hands up. The young white man she had seen at the ATM about twenty minutes ago, stood pointing a gun at him; or it would have been at him, except Patrick seemed to partially placed himself between the gunman and the man Kelly assumed was Marvin. The gun seemed almost confused as he jeered the gun back closer to his body, apparently not intending for it to have gone off. It appeared no one had been hit yet. A few feet behind him, the other man Kelly recalled as the one who had gone into the store with the gunman, was stuffing what appeared to be random candies and noodle packets into a plastic bag.  _

_ Patrick said something to the gun man gesturing between them and then back at the Older gentleman who worked the counter. The older man grabbed money from the till as he stepped back fully behind the counter, and handed it to the gunman who seemed shocked. He lowered his gun just slightly and then nodded before yelling at his accomplice. A second later both men were running towards the door.  _

_ For a second Kelly thought to stop them somehow, but before she could, they pushed through the door, knocking her to the ground as they shoved passed and took off running at full speed. As she worked her way up off the ground the sound of siren drew deafening close, until the noise was on top of her as the two police cars pulled up wildly in a manner Kelly would call reckless. _

_ Kelly looked into the store, seeing Patrick picking up some mess as he slowly headed for the door. His pace was cautious as he stepped out, hand already raised, holding nothing but the candy bar, he hadn't left in the car.  _

_ "DROP you weapon! FREEZE! PUT YOUR HANDS UP! FREEZE! GET ON-" The officers were screaming instructions.  _

_ "He's not the robber! " Kelly and the old woman who had walked over from the ATM yelled, trying to penitrate the noise.  _

_ "He has some kind of weapon! " one of the three officers yelled at the other two. _

_ "It's a candy bar." _

_ "Drop your weapon!" _

_ "FREEZE! Don't move-" _

_ "Don't shoot!" Kelly yelled, while part of her brain was trying to figure out how they had gotten there. _

_ Kelly looked inside the store to see the older man who worked the counter, rushing towards the door with a slight limp, as fast as he could. _

_ . . . . _

**Present**

Kelly breathing felt heavy. Her head was swimming and her stomach twisted in knots as she relayed the details of the situation to Alex. She was laying back on the couch, resting against Alex and the mild sting of unfallen tears stung her eyes.

"Kelly, I'm so…"

"The store owner, me, The old lady by the ATM, and Patrick...we all were desperately telling them. "He was protecting the owner of the store Alex." Kelly paused, breathing out a strained frustrated breath. " They saw a Black teenage and instantly felt threatened; I just-"

"Kelly...Its OK-"

"Alex...it's not okay. Nothing is gonna make it okay."

Alex just held her as she processed. 

Finally after a few moments, Kelly spoke. "Doris screamed so loud when she got there." She said, simply. "The air just smelled like blood and gunpowder. It just smelled like suffering. " she noted. "I cant-" Kelly paused. She was hesitant to even explain what she was feeling.

"Can't what?" Alex asked.

"Alex…

"Kelly?"

"Alex, I can't even fully discuss this with you right now. " Kelly finally blurted out. 

Alex' entire body tensed up as she held Kelly. Kelly wasn't sure what to make of this response as she waited. 

"Babe. I- I wanna understand. Please just- just talk to me."

Kelly sighed. " I can't. I can BE!. I'm-Im always- always cutting off one piece of my heart to mourn for another. They just- he was just standing there." Kelly whispered. The exhaustion seeped into her bones then.

Alex' next question came out hesitantly. Kelly could feel the hesitation and fear in her girlfriend's voice. " what happened next?

. . . .

**_Alex- 30 minutes later_ **

Alex sat on the couch sipping the last of the second bottle of wine. Kelly was about a foot away, laying asleep on the couch. The minut trembling in her small form as she rested, revealed the traumatic nature of her rest. 

Alex couldn't stop thinking about the horrors Kelly had described. And nothing would ever remove the memory of the look Kelly had when Alex told her about following DEO orders to smash into the home of a woman named Julie. Orders, fear,just- just following- protecting-

" _ That doesn't make it okay." _ Kelly had said. She'd sounded defeated.

Alex didn't want to think about all this. She wanted to just punch the idiot who had shot that kid and hurt Kelly. She- she understood the mistake and panic they had felt though but maybe-maybe that was the problem. Maybe she really just wanted to punch herself. 

Kelly's voice had been close to shattering as she described holding the cloth over Patrick's wound. Alex could visualize the scene herself. That's what hurt the most. She could see it. She could practically taste the suffering Kelly had lived too. 

🎶🎵Ring🎶🎵

The ring of her cellphone pulled her from her tornado of thoughts. Checking the caller ID showed it was Lena. Despite the late hour she felt compelled to reply. 

" Lena." She answered, cutting straight to the chase. 

" Is Kelly okay? I heard an L-corp employee was involved in a robbery incident. My sources said the suspect was sh-"

Alex found herself feeling unusually irritated. It wasn't Lena's fault she had mis information but still- " They didn't shoot the suspect." Alex responded abruptly. " They made a mistake." She explained, while looking at Kelly's resting form.

"Oh. Where did you-?"

"Kelly told me." Alex explained. "They- the young man they shot was from the youth center." Alex explained. The act of actually voicing it herself made Alex taste a small measure of the frustration she imagined Kelly had felt when telling her.

Lena's sharp intake of breath was the telltale sign that this information hadn't been shared with her from whomever her source was. "What?"

"Patrick. She said his name was Patrick."

There was silence from Lena's end of the phone then. "Patrick, the volunteer?" He- he's- How?"

"The cops- made a-mistake." Alex paused. Calling it a mistake sounded weak now that she listened to herself saying it. Kelly's earlier words played in her mind. "...or a choice I guess." Her words were practically a whisper. 

Lena snorted somberly. " I've been on the victim end of my share or police mistakes." 

"I know. " Alex found herself easily agreeing with Lena there. "This was different though. It was-. You- you should have seen Kelly earlier. " It was different. "

Alex could tell how fitful Kelly's sleep still was on the couch. It almost felt like she was following this whole conversation as Alex watched her. 

"We should probably shut down the youth center for a few days." Lena noted. " Give Kelly and the kids time after all this."

"Oh."

" I don't know though. I wanna ask Kelly but-"

"Yeah. Maybe now isn't the time to drop any more weights on her." Alex agreed, though she was uncertain about that choice as she had no first hand experience with the center. Her eyes drifted towards the mostly un eaten Chinese food on the table and Kelly's empty wine glass as she recalled something else Kelly had said during her ranting earlier.  _ "I failed him. Alex...some of those kids...some of them really need the center and me and I- I didn't protect-" _ Kelly's voice had broken and with it, something had slapped Alex mind with startling clarity. There were so many layers being peeled back for her in that moment. Kelly would of course try to burden her own spirit with the guilt of others; even more so when connected like this.

"We can't close it, not even temporarily". 

Alex looked away from the uneaten food. back towards Kelly who had clearly woken up a few moments ago unnoticed. 

"Kelly…we were just talking-" Alex spoke as she tapped the speakerphone button on the phone. "-about everything with...with Pat-" Alex stopped then wondering how long Kelly had been awake.

"I caught the last few minutes of what's been said. " Kelly explained, answering Alex' unasked question.

"We're both just worried about you." Lena voice replied over the phone.

"I'm worried about the kids in the Center." Kelly tossed back rather flatly, like it was the most obvious thing.

"Kelly, Lena didn't mean that we aren't concerned about the kids or Patr- Patrick." Alex could see Kelly flinch slightly at the sound of the young man's name. It was like salt poured on a still fresh wound.

"When we set up the youth Center in the south side of National City, you said you would let me lead on this one with the kids." Kelly addressed Lena on the phone. 

"I did say that. "

"Kelly," Alex interjected, " Don't you think this new...incident changes things."

Kelly looked at her like she was getting annoyed with Alex and the obvious mix of frustration and love in Kelly's eyes made it clear to Alex that another mini lesson was about to come right on the heels of the last one.

. . . .

**Kelly- Next morning**

Kelly stretched on the couch as she woke up. She was still working through the soreness from the trauma of yesterday, though Alex' warm sleeping presence next to her was in its way, comforting right then. She could feel a headache coming from all the wine she had consumed last night and the dried tears that had fallen during what must have been her second or third rant, made her face feel tight. 

The conversation and phone call last night had been a roller coaster that had taken her a moment to steady herself. Part of her felt like she had lashed out at Alex and yet part of her felt almost lighter even in the face of the senseless tragedy. Now sitting in the quiet of the early morning, her brain was able to think or at least piece together some puzzle pieces. 

Patrick had reminded her of James. Maybe that's why she took to mentoring him so quickly, she reasoned to herself. If she really wanted to delve into it, she would have to admit that what happened...what happened was the nightmare scenario she had had fears about when she was younger. A flash of memory hit her mind then, sweeping her backwards to a fridget winter, a mini mart, her, Hasani, James, a simple pack of Wonder bars candy and hot coco and her first up close experience with seeing someone pull a gun on her brother...for-

. . . .

**_( Winter: Kelly 11, James 13)_ **

_ Kelly rubbed her hands together, trying desperately to stay warm and she followed James towards the mini mart. Hasani trudged along next to her, shivering despite his two layers of Jackets.  _

_ "Jay, why didn't we just go to the one right up the road from the house? " Hasani asked. _

_ The fridgetness of the air was abrasive despite the lack of snow as they made their way. Without turning around, James answered, " The mini mart just got the new Wonder bars in. You guys said you wanted some." He reminded them. " I guess we could always turn back." He said, stopping his stride. _

_ Kelly looked ahead to the end of the block. "It's the next street up. We may as well." _

_ James turned and kept walking. Technically the local mini mart was a tiny bit outside of their usual neighborhood. It was just past Smolder Blvd. Once they crossed the street they were in a different part of town Technically. It was weird cause they were still only 16 blocks from home at most. Kelly had been to this mini mart a few times; About 5 times to be exact, but never without her Aunt or Uncle. James and Hasani had gone alone or with friends after school before though.  _

_ As they entered the mini mart, the usual chime of the door went off, alerting the clerk to their presence. It was a typical sized mini mart; perhaps a tiny bit bigger than the one closer to home. A thin middle aged Chinese woman named Ms Zuhn,who wore glasses and kept her short black hair in a tight ponytail, and her husband, a slightly plump Chinese man of short stature and grumpy disposition owned the place. Usually the counter was worked by Ms Zuhn or her son. Generally it was best to go when Ms Zuhn was there. Young, their son had been known to be rather jumpy and hyper suspicious of...people and rumor had it, he was the one who had called the cops on old man Marly for sleeping out front after he became homeless. Noone was quite sure though. On top of that Young was rather handsy and touchy Feely which seemed almost at odds with his constant suspicion. Kelly breathed a sigh of happiness when she saw Ms Zuhn at the counter. She nodded at them as they headed for the candy aisle in search of the new wonder bar. _

_ "Jay can we get some coco while we're here?" Hasani asked, gesturing towards where the hot coco machine was. He pulled out a 10 dollar bill from his own pocket. " My treat."  _

_ "Given a choice between coco or freezing, I pick coco," Kelly responded, not even waiting for James' answer as she headed towards the machine. _

_ "I'm gonna check the rest of the aisle first. I'll be right there. " James assured them as they headed off. _

_ The coco machine had a selection of 5 flavors or coco. It was either white chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg, Coffee, which technically wasn't coffee or plain regular hot chocolate. The last 2 times they'd been here, she had gotten plain hot chocolate. Hasani was more adventurous and had tried all five flavors including the coffee. He had added so many sugar packets and creams, that Ms Zuhn had scolded him for the mess one day when Kelly's aunt was picking them up from school and stopped them by here. _

_ Deciding to stay to form, Kelly grabbed the small cup and put it under the faucet for regular hot chocolate.  _

_ "Keke, live a little." Hasani insisted as he grabbed a medium cup himself preparing to get cinnamon flavor.  _

_ As they stood fiddling with the coco machine in the back, they heard the telltale ding by the door indicating someone else had entered the store. That could only be a good thing though as the relative emptiness of the story had been mildly agitating.  _

_ "Should we get Jay a cup?"  _

**_Authors notes: Trigger warning for descriptions of violence, slurs, anti blackness and threats. If you're easily upset or emotionally unprepared for content, proceed with caution._ **

_ As Kelly turned to go ask James, she heard the Young Zuhn, who had apparently been the one to enter. "What are you doing? Put that back you thriving little monkey!" He hissed the words. _

_ "I-I didn't-" James tripped over his own words. _

_ Kelly ran over to the Aisle James was on to find him standing, holding a bag of chips and one Wonder bar, that he'd apparently found while they were grabbing candy. _

_ "Put it back!" Young was nearly shouting.  _

_ "I'm buying these. I was-" _

_ " I'm tired of you people coming in here stealing." _

_ "James…" Kelly interrupted, uncertain what was going on. _

_ Kelly was surprised that all the noise hadn't brought Ms Zuhn over. She wasn't overtly getting involved. She seemed unwilling to get involved or temper her son at all. _

_ "Look kid, I'm not playing with you. I saw you." _

_ Kelly looked back and forth between Young and James. What did he mean he saw him?  _

_ " No. You just got here. I didn't-" _

_ Hasani walked up behind Kelly, holding all three drinks onna little drink tray. _

_ "Jay? Jay let's go." _

_ Young looked over at Hasani. " None of you thieving hoodlums are going anywhere," He told them, reaching out to grab James as James stepped backwards out of his reach.  _

_ "I've put up with this backwoods crap for three years!" Young was yelling now. " Just the other day one of you Ni-" he stopped himself mid sentence as he reached behind his back.  _

_ James continued Stepping back a few feet until he was right in front of Hasani and Kelly. Everyone went still though as Young pulled a small gun.  _

_ "Noone is ever gonna steal from the Zuhn mini mart again. Put. It. Back." He sounded deranged. _

_ Kelly got the feeling that there was more going on in that moment than just the assumption that James had stolen. Kelly couldn't say what had happened but in that moment with the gun held steady in Young's hand she could only feel a wash of terrified uncertainty. James shifty slightly in his stance, trying to use his body to cover both her and Hasani.  _

_ "Put that down!" Hasani stuttered out. He backed up a step as he said it. _

_ Kelly looked to James to see the stunned fear washing over his face. " No, no- I have money-wait- " he seemed to struggle for words, dropping the chips and candy bar he held in his hand. _

_ "What's in your pocket, you little thief?!" Young's tone practically demanded obedience.  _

_ Kelly looked at James who made no move to comply one way or another. _

_ "Ms Zuhn." Kelly actively called out for the store owner now, hoping she would intervene in this tumultuous situation somehow. _

_ The dinging of the bell at the door indicating someone entering the mini mart was like the tinkling of church bells announcing their salvation. Young turned and looked at the door to see Harrison Donovan entering the store. Kelly only knew for sure because she heard his voice. Considering that the man was an algebra teacher for 6th graders at her school, it was easy to recognize.  _

_ Harrison was a rather tall but slender man with a light honeyed toffee colored complexion. He frequently smelled of lemon and lavender from what Kelly could recall. His- the man Harrison lived with, that Kelly was pretty sure was his boyfriend, owned a flower shop on the other side of town and worked part time at the delivery service that supplied coca cola products to most of the city's mini marts and grocery stores, hence the smell of lemon and lavender like flowers. _

_ Young moved to put the gun away as Harrison entered the aisle. True to form Mr Donovan was wearing a button up shirt, grey this time, a pair of khaki pants and a black sweater. His glasses were perched on the top of his head, resting in his short cropped curly black hair. _

_ "What the-" Harrison exclaimed. He seemed to be less scared of the gun and more disgusted that it had been pulled out even as Young rushed to put it away. _

_ "Relax!" Young insisted " These Rats were stealing candy!" _

_ "No! Jay wasn't-" Hasani insisted.  _

_ "Harry, listen-" Young began trying to explain to Harrison. His tone indicated some level of business like familiarity between them. That made sense.  _

_ "Stop. "Mr Donovan ordered. "Do you have a license for that?" _

_ Kelly could visibly see the color drain from Young's face at that question. _

_ "We were just getting some candy. We have money." Kelly interjected feeling more embolden now that the gun was put away and there was an adult backing them up.  _

_ "I saw him taking-" _

_ "How, you just got here!" Hasani shot back. _

_ Mr Donovan looked between Young and the three of them. His eyes resting on James for a moment.  _

_ "Sumii?" He spoke up, turning towards where the register was. "I need assistance." _

_ A moment later, Ms Zuhn was walking over. Apparently she could only hear when adults called for help. Kelly's mind tried to push back the bitterness and irritation wrapped in anger as it swam up in her mind. _

_ " This is the second time." Mr Donovan stated flatly as Ms Zuhn entered the aisle. Kelly wasn't quite sure what he ment. _

_ Young's bluster and bravado had deflated in the last few minutes and he currently stood looking down right pale.  _

_ "They're always stealing." Young mumbled before turning to his mother. " Ta zhishi zaici zai shangdian li zhanglang. Meiyou liyou bu gaoxing." He told her. "Xiao hei gui…" he mumbled, looking back at them.. _

_ Kelly didn't quite understand what he had said but judging by the sudden intense anger that flashed across Mr Donovan's face, he had understood and whatever he had said was insulting enough to draw his ire. _

_ "How da-" _

_ "That little shit Remi was in here the other day again. Scared my mother half to death."  _

_ Mr Donovan paused. He nodded and all the adults shared a look. Kelly assumed they were referring to Remi Marson. He was kind of known trash. He was a few years older than James and had dropped out of school a few months ago when he joined a local gang Bk99. He had been known to steal and almost got in trouble for something involving Tiana Marion, a pregnancy and a gun. Noone was 100% sure what went on there though. _

_ "None of these kids are Remi. You can't treat every kid you see as if they're him!"  _

_ "Let's all just-" Ms Zuhn finally spoke up.  _

_ "You kids head on home." Mr Donovan instructed them, interrupting whatever Ms Zuhn was saying. He looked at the three hot cocoa's Hasani held, and the chips and candy James had in his hand and pulled some money from pocket, handing it to Ms Zuhn. " I got them covered."  _

_ James cautiously led them to the door slipping past where Mr. Donovan and Young were standing. He looked uncertain but Mr Donovan seemed steady and somehow in control of things now. _

_ "Thanks. We uhm-" Hasani stumbled over his words sounding almost flustered as he attempted to thank Mr Donovan as they headed out the door. _

_ "But he-!" Young interrupted the moment.  _

_ "Not now Young." Ms Zuhn interjected, silencing her son. _

_ As they headed out Kelly could hear Mr Donovan voice, " This is the second time. I will have all drink deliveries to this location boycotted-" _

**. . . .**

**(Present - Kelly)**

The incident was still stark and vivid in her mind all these years later; even more so on a day like today. Candy? It was just candy and the assumption of guilt. Who pulls a gun over candy? And who pulls a gun on a child? It was just- she had no words. She couldn't even formulate how to tell Alex that to this day she had no clue whether James had been trying to or had taken the candy. It simply didn't matter. All these years she has just been struck by the way people were ready to shoot people...people like her over nothing. It had just been some candy with Patrick and James.

"Hey." Alex' voice, still heavy with sleep interrupted her thoughts. "You okay?" She asked sitting up next to Kelly.

Kelly breathed out a sigh recalling her own stress and anguish and ranting the night before. " Yeah. I was just thinking." She admitted as she leaned over resting her head on Alex' shoulder.

"About Patrick?"

"And my brother. "

"James. What's-"

"Long story." 

That sat in companionable silence for a few moments before Kelly finally spoke.

"Alex, I'm sorry I-"

"You have nothing to be sorry for. " Alex assured her. "I'm sorry I wasn't listening. I just-"

"I dumped a lot on you last night."

"Maybe- maybe I needed to hear it and you needed to say it.

Kelly's stomach growled then drawing a small laugh from Alex.

"Since dinner never got eaten last night, how about egg whites,waffles and we spend the morning just you and me...Talking or anything else you need."

Kelly found herself readily agreeing with that as Alex moved off the couch and She reclined herself to lay down, watching her girlfriend head to the kitchen to put something together. Maybe this was a story she could share with Alex after all.

After a few minutes the smell of egg whites, minced onion and gouda cheese began to fill the apartment, telling her that Alex was getting fancy with Breakfast. While she waited and watched, she caught Alex stealing glances over at her while still cooking. The whole thing served to relax some of that tense energy that had seized her the night before.

"Babe, " Alex interrupted her thinking as she approached with a fresh brewed cup of coffee, setting it down on the table in front of the couch.

"Thank-you."

"Anytime…" Alex assured her as she knelt down to add a dash of sugar to the coffee.

Finally for a moment, for the first time since it happened last night, the echo of the gunshot stopped ringing in her brain all together. Though she knew there was going to be so much to do to support Doris in the coming days, her emotional fatigue felt an almost guilty relief to just be able to BE for a moment. 

"An egg whites omelet coming right up, Alex promised, as she stood, heading back over to finish cooking.

Kelly let her eyes drift closed for a moment and just let herself enjoy that. There would be time for heavy conversation later in day.

FIN

_ Please feel free to leave questions, comments, kudos or constructive criticism below. _


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